I'll Always Remain
by Monokuma Minor
Summary: "A search for the guilty. Who did this you may ask? Humanity wasn't just jealous of your power... they feared it... They used this incident as an excuse to hunt you down..." Being imprisoned by a world you wanted to protect... What kind of messed up world was this? A take on what happened in Shadow's numbered days of Sonic '06's desolate future.
1. Confusion

**I'll Always Remain**

_**Confusion**_

_**Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…**_

The woman sat there, fiddling absent-mindedly with the drink in her hand as she slouched against the bar, obviously portrayed as the most bored bat in the universe.

"Well, so much for a fun holiday…" she muttered, bringing the glass to her lips and supping its contents stiffly. "…Why part of me said to take a break and shut this place up, I'll never know."

Daintily, the female brushed the surface in front of her with a free index finger, blinking as she brought it upwards to her eyes. She frowned at the slight bit of dirt on the glove, and gave a deadpanned look, before staring intently at the closest side of the bar.

"Looks like I gotta' do some cleaning, later…" she sighed with a depressed tone.

The last thing that wanted to be on her mind was cleaning Club Rouge…

Slowly pulling herself off the steel stool, the bat girl sipped the last of her drink, dusted off the counter slightly, and then placed her glass on top of the surface, before tugging at her long, white gloves and turning, again, to the clock, which ticked absent mindlessly away.

Twelve-o-clock, five minutes, and thirty seconds…

Thirty one seconds…

Thirty two seconds…

Thirty three seconds…

"Ugh…"

Normally, after this usual activity, she would head out, hoping to see if any jewels might get her attention.

Alas, she never succeeded with her searches… this boredom infuriated her to the pit… She was meant to be a treasure hunter for Pete's sake! And, right now, she fumbled in even finding the tiniest smidge of evidence that an emerald or gem was there…

She glanced behind her, glum as she eyed the safe through an open door to another room.

Maybe… maybe she'd found them all?

…

"Nah," she muttered, rolling her eyes as she hefted herself off the barstool, "the pretties are probably just being stubborn."

She maneuvered around the counter, walking both around and behind it, whilst grabbing a bottle from one of its many shelves.

The bottle was plain, held a normal, cream label, (which was surprisingly blank, not directly branded,) and inside, was an orange liquid. Nothing seemed very special about it, and the bat's expression verified this theory.

She carefully gripped her glass with one hand, and poured the liquid into it with the other, her face rigidly un-amused.

**BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA!**

Her hand slipped, and became soaking wet with the drink as shock dwindled within it. Growling with frustration, she shook her hand briskly, and then her head shot up, the glass window ahead of her already cracked. Several holes pierced it violently, and she ducked her head as the bottles behind her shattered into thousands upon thousands particles of glass.

"What the…?"

"**KILL!"**

That same, robotic voice echoed through her ears, and she swiftly crawled out of the bar, and to the door, her head low as she tried to stay out of gunfire.

The sound of bullets hitting glass reverberated about the room for a few moments, until all became silent.

Catching her breath, the bat pulled herself straight, though was still bending slightly afterwards; she was cautious of the attacks as it was. Leaning on the door for a minor moment, she swallowed, before opening it a crack, revealing the world of outside.

Burning. Wrecked. Empty.

As these few words could come to light in most bleak situations, so could hope, in this otherwise perfect world. A world that lacks most sanity… this could easily describe the dreaded future.

The future everyone had tried so hard to escape.

That's why Rouge's club lacked business, thereafter… The ruined future proved too much for even the most popular businesses.

Buildings were wrecked, cars were set brightly alight, lava consumed most previously watered areas, and the despair-filled sunset hovered over the horizon, its background a hint of orange and blood red.

At once, the bat became depressed, knowing why she'd decided to close up in the first place… Why the place even meant anything to her, anymore, she didn't know… but, right now, it was her humble abode, as it was her deadbeat business.

"**DESTROY!"**

Her gaze shot to down below, and as she stood at the peak of the stairs, the sunlight made her squint before finally diving back deep into the desolate hills. And, at last, she saw what was making the racket below.

A robot, equipped with the usual rockets, was making its way down the street, red, metallic skin still faintly see-able as night approached. A claw glistened a moment, before dimming as the sun was hidden from view. It suddenly changed, into that of a machine gun, which Rouge knew oh so well.

'…Omega…' She pondered over the event, since she had not seen her teammate in what seemed to be forever.

He was slow and steady as he proceeded forward robotically, limbs twisting as he eyed the wasteland of buildings about him.

"…Omega?"

**BANGBANGBANGBANG!**

Screaming silently, she ducked as a machine gun was abruptly aimed in her direction, shooting repeatedly until she didn't move anymore. She bit her lip as she concealed herself from the metal one's view with the aid of a brick fence. She closed her eyes tight, hesitant to so much as lift her head.

Down below, the machine's red eyes watched the brick wall for a moment, forever eyeing it as a tuff of white fur slipped into his view.

…White fur dominating skin…

This wasn't his objective.

Rouge's blue eyes watched as the E-robot turned away, who was obviously aware of her presence, despite initial hostility. Her eyes never once strode away from his being as he took off in another direction.

Pursing her lips, the female mulled over a matter in her head: whether to follow him or not.

They were a team, so it was only natural she was worried about him… not to mention, she was curious of why he tried to blow her head off.

Straightening fully, she turned heel, preparing to take after him before she lost him for good.

"…**He's not idly walking about, you know…"**

Her coat stood on end.

She felt the familiar, sinister voice drill through her ears, and this being's voice enough was all that was needed to make her more paranoid than she originally was.

Closing her eyes, she turned around once more, and then, cautiously opened them, coming face to face with…

Nothing.

…

'Hmm…'

The bat took another deep breath, before spinning around to continue with her goal.

**. . .**

The roads clattered and cracked under the agent's feet as she darted across them, adrenalin and a need for knowing dwelling in her body. The cobblestones were more or less burned to crisp, yet still strong enough to hold thousands of feet at one time, although a few of them were well on their way to cracking into nothingness. The walls, once plastered with random graffiti, had fallen to the ground, leaving massive holes and enabling random beings to look inside the now deserted houses…

A flame flared out from one of the holes, and high-pitched shrieking filled the air, and Rouge's sensitive ears.

Well, not totally deserted.

The bat dived behind a wall as soon as the noise had sounded, and she remained there, still for moment as her ears stopped ringing and her heart rate steadily decreased back to a more regular beating. As she sat there, she pondered over one matter.

Omega.

Why he was suddenly here… out of the blue… she had no vague idea… And those words he had chosen to utter… they seemed so feral. Kill, destroy… they seemed too much like his old self; the old self that was totally intent on killing Eggman and his hordes of robots, but they weren't around… as far as she knew. She hadn't seen the Doctor in ages, nor Sonic himself. She couldn't get her head around it.

If he was on a mission, she wouldn't have understood that either. G.U.N had been out of commission for a while now, and if they had chosen to re-establish themselves, it was far too late…

The shriek died away, and she poked her head around the corner, seeing a lava-like bird dive back into its hiding spot, awaiting unfortunate passer-bys.

Picking herself up, Rouge sighed.

Whatever this mess was, she'd find out eventually.

She looked up, seeing a climb-able ladder attached to several, metal-criss-crossed balconies, and she straightened. Jumping up onto a random dumpster, (which was surprisingly stable despite all violent measures,) she gripped the bottom of it, hobbling before regaining her balance and pulling herself up it. She tugged at the bars as she crawled up them, wings in slight flight as to aid her balance, (she would fly, but any flapping sounds may alert random predators of her presence, and may tell others she was best fit for lunch…). The walkway seemed quite rusty, and this was evident when it gave a creak, making the bat almost fall off it, had she not regained herself. Sighing mentally, she looked up the barely stable stairs, and then made her way up them.

. . .

He stood, still and silent as he stared at the spectacle.

Clouds. Light. Sunshine. Those things he hadn't seen in a while.

At first, he thought he was hallucinating. At first, he thought it was merely his mind's imagination stretching too far. But then…

He felt it. Heat seemed to warm his body in the sunlight; although such a thing seemed significantly indifferent to that of lava, the glow the sun radiated, surrounded by blue-hueing clouds, was soft on his tanned muzzle. Much softer than the scorching temperatures of Iblis' footsteps.

He folded his arms at the sight, leaning back on the end of a long-since abandoned ventilation system with faint amusement glimmering in his eyes.

It was so carefully put, that a plot that brought back some happiness to this dystopian world that could involve some idiot tripping over something was evident, or something along that line…

His features shaped into a solemn, serious expression.

Almost everyone in this world had lost so much hope… not that he cared for the humans' lost optimism, but no one was bothered to even mind they were in the apocalypse anymore. They scurried away into their little homes, with nothing but savage monsters lying in wait for them…

He heard their terrified screams at night, but he didn't once attempt to locate them, fearing he would only find nothing but blood-spattered corpses and spilled organs… and blood reminded him blatantly of…

Thoughts stopped, and the hedgehog shook his head dismissively, before retracing back to a more suitable subject.

…Night… it was so peaceful once… so… serene… Now, it was filled with screeches that were owned by humans succumbing to bloody murder.

The next morning, he would expect certain people to be routinely scurrying about, looking for rations of some sort… yet, he never saw them. At least, not in their plain, original shape… he'd recognized quite a few decapitated heads hanging limply in those odd lizards' mouths… Not exactly a pretty sight, is it?

He never understood what use he would be to the world now… He knew not of how to solve this conflict. Even if the sun was shining so gracefully, that hardly solved the dealings he had to go through…

Furrowing his brow, he stared at his shoes, as if expecting them to make this world somewhat perfect once more.

**Thud… thud… thud…**

Pointy ears perked at the noise, and the hedgehog turned his head in a half-bothered manner.

Immediately, he recoiled from his relaxed state, before pulling himself up, paranoia suddenly kicking in: his fists were clenched, and his eyes were narrowed. Although he stood calmly still, he was on cautiously high alert.

"**Shadow…"**

His defensive stance loosened as he saw a metal creature staring back at him, red coat glistening in the daylight.

"Omega, don't sneak up on me like—"

He stopped dead, looking at said being's hand as it was swapped with a machine gun.

"…Omega?"

It was reloaded, as if it had shot moments before, and now… it was pointing directly at his head.

"Omega…" The Ultimate Life Form paled incredibly, staring at the action as if it was the most ludicrous thing he'd ever witnessed."What's wro—?"

"**ELIMINATE: PROJECT SHADOW."**

. . .

**Hai, peoples!**

**Welcome to another story of mine… It was originally meant to be a One-Shot, but I got carried away as usual…**

**Basically, it's my take on what happened during that "bad" future, where Shadow was claimed to be sealed away by Omega. So, you could say it's a sort of redux, or what-if, (Some of you should know, I love what-ifs, XD ).**

**Oh, and the timeline isn't that far in, (not up to Silver's 200 years, anyway…) but shortly after Iblis' release when the Egg Carrier crashed… I don't know; I don't get it. Something happened and Iblis somehow got released when that… that vessel died… well, you know what I mean. XD **

**Expect Shadouge to play a big role in this later on; it always does. X3 **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. ^^ And I hope you will later on.**


	2. Delay with the Demon

**Chapter 2**

**Delay with the Demon**

Rushed steps. Rushed steps were all that sounded as Rouge the Bat scampered across a rooftop, her pace resembling her usual, flawless movement as she dashed to and thro, skidding around corners when needed. Her undying footsteps continued, flurried, would not leave…

She felt the need to hurry… maybe the premise about Omega was that intriguing, just that important, that she couldn't waste time. She had to follow him, and if she didn't, she'd never find out what was going on, nor why he shot at her of all people…

…They…

…They were a team… right?

…

She didn't really know… but that's why she was on this quest to find out. The urgency would forever remain the same until she found out; found out why she had been a target, or at least similar to one… but what had been so similar between her and the target…? She paused to think that over, but came up with nothing… how could she come up with anything?

This was infuriating, just thinking about it. She needed to find Omega, not slow her pace completely to stop and think. And she needed to watch the path in front of her as well…

…?

"…Where'd he…?"

Rouge paused, looking around frantically for the red coat she knew so well, not seeing a smidge of it. Anywhere.

Had she been reading too much into the situation that she'd lost him directly? He had to be somew—

"**He's not idly walking about, you know…"**

Ears pricking.

Coat on end.

Breath hitching.

Rouge completely froze once again at that voice, a shudder travelling down her spine at a speed the equivalent of a train, the tracks vibrating…

"…_Mephiles_…"

"…Who else, batgirl?" that dark, sinister voice replied… but it seemed more full of curiousness rather than hostility itself, unlike their normal encounters…

"Well, honestly?" the albino asked, with a vaguely dry expression that was too tuned to the point she was pushing her initial luck. "I was expecting Omochao."

"…" There was a brief silence. A very brief one. "…Omochao?"

Well…that… was an interesting assumption… regardless of the obvious negativity and unnerving atmosphere he normally gave off.

Rouge still held same, unamused expression she had been eyeing nothingness with before. She hadn't the faintest idea of where to look, but he could certainly see the aggravation on her face. This wasn't helping her situation in the slightest.

Now that he thought about it, observed her, the shadow demon could only amuse himself by how frustrated she was looking at this very moment. And he had the right idea why…

The bat adopted a firm, strong expression, trying her very best not to look too… weak, as the other would probably describe. Earlier, though… she had tensed up visibly at only his voice, and she was sure she was almost doing the same right now. She disliked that to the greatest extent she could, and tried to throw away the dismal fear into the back of her mind.

"What do you want?" she muttered lowly, looking around cautiously and wondering one thing... _Where is he…?_

"You assume I want something?" the voice questioned, sounding curious. After all, the guise of her guessing his intentions was something to look forward to. Or at least listen to, since he needed a little bit of… humoring.

Not that he would need much of it, keeping in mind the show that would soon take place before his very eyes as the puppetmaster himself… how he would look forward to that…

"You _always _want something…" Rouge growled under her breath, quite irritably. "Whether it's winding us up the wall or coming for 'comeuppance'…"

There was a silence; a very malicious one… "Where is this 'us'?"

The bat grew gravely quiet at that question, and she could not help but glare.

"Mind stepping out of the shadows?" she hissed. "Before I come find you myself…"

"Oh, that is rich!" his demonic voice chuckled. "You would do that? Of all things, why do it within the rush?"

"…" the ivory being looked around with an irritated expression. "Just come out, Meph."

"Perhaps not. Your… behavior when I am not fully present… amuses me," he responded with a sick sense of humor. Seeing one of his enemies in such a stupor was truly a sight to behold… not as great as that planned, but nonetheless great.

Rouge only retorted with hostility, turning elsewhere and moving to walk. "Then you have no reason to talk to me, do you? Ta-ta—!"

That farewell was rubbed back in her face the moment she'd stepped.

She came face-to-face with the reptilian-eyed demon, who was watching her with an impassive expression.

"…?!"

"…Leaving so soon would be such… a waste, considering what I have to tell you…" the Shadow-form of Mephiles the Dark purred, voice seeming to ring with both malice and excitement. Whatever he had to tell…

"…I don't want to hear it," the albino snapped, trying to turn yet again in an opposite direction.

Perhaps she could catch up to Omega… if that was possible, but she cursed herself inwardly when she remembered it was both her thoughts and this conversation that had slowed her progress down.

"Oh?" Mephiles persisted, tilting his head ever so slightly, green, reptilian eyes on the bat. "But… it may be very important to you…"

"Nothing is important coming from your mouth, Mephiles," Rouge muttered sourly, starting to walk again—

"Dull. Very dull."

—Only to be intercepted by the same demon she had strived to get away from; no matter the situation, Mephiles always had something up his sleeve… however the latter worked. And she honestly didn't want to be around to hear it. Those cryptic and threatening warnings gave her a headache from time to time…

She had to wonder, too, why he was wasting time, and only talking to her—it would have been so easy for him to stab away at her lifeline when her back was turned.

But keeping in mind his display of power, she realized he was only playing with her… playing with his prey as predator… as he always did. Playing demi-God had its offences, and she knew of many of them merely because of Team Dark's raging battles against him. All of them put together could keep him at bay for a while. Note the word, a while. Even Shadow, of all people, had trouble with him… and this in itself was very troubling to most of the Sonic team.

The demon lingered, looking at her with a curious expression as if to decipher what she was thinking at the present time. It was nothing too amusing, but mortals did have… interesting reactions towards him…

She had not responded to him yet… which was effectively useless for the moment. Her eagerness was vital to the reaction, after all…

"Sorry if dull isn't enough for you," she growled under her breath, turning around yet again.

Irritating, how stubborn she was to communicate with him. Why, if he only wanted a brief friendly chat, what was the point of her resistance to the subject?

"Do not turn your back to **me**, batgirl," the demon uttered lowly.

"Too bad, hon," she retorted cockily with a cynical expression as she started walking away. "I just did."

A growl reverberated in the demon's throat…

… Rouge was starting to frustrate him.

And he realized he'd need an effective point rather than an obscure one… or perhaps something that would catch her attention.

He was vaguely wondering of that phrase the humans had once had a habit of saying… something to do with sticks and stones.

…

Bah! He did not dwell on it. There was no need to.

He paused with a vacant face.

…One word. He had one word on his mind that would solve this problem with a move of his muzzle, but… it was hard to say it. Not in the pronunciation, but in the way he felt…

He hated that word. How he hated it… loathed it… wished it would die…

But alas, it would never leave him…

…But… perhaps today… it would.

How he looked forward to that… greatly…

Oh, yes… certainly a sight to behold… It just needed his aid…

… Perhaps he should focus on reality for that moment.

When he _did _focus on reality, the bat was already at the end of the roof top.

Well, at least she didn't get too far. That would have been a far greater loss than it would have been a win.

"… Hmhmhm…" the demon chuckled at how easily that could have been her end, but that wasn't the only thing on his mind. Yes… the triggerword.

"…?"

Rouge paused mid-step, her ears twitching slightly and sensitively at the cryptic noise from Mephiles' direction.

…_He's up to something…_

"…**Shadow."**

Rouge froze instantly at that name, and sure enough, the demon had her attention, but she felt that was more bad than good.

Shadow and Mephiles weren't exactly the best of friends, or at least, most should know, despite their both vague and outstanding similarities… They hated eachother. Their loathing of the other went on for long, and Rouge was sure it would carry on from one eternity to the next.

Which is why she feared this now. Mephiles, stating her partner's name like that, in such a way… it seemed both a self-satisfying and malice-filled thing to say. He hated saying it, but at the same time, he enjoyed it to the best extent he could. It wound her up, and it was certainly getting its desired effect. Rouge wondered why he was so… smug at the time, like he knew something she certainly didn't (which was plausible, since the latter was a time traveler, so to speak) but the other side of her didn't dare to question it; she didn't want to know. She didn't want to hear anything from him… not because she didn't care or want to humor him, but… because she was scared of what words could come out, regardless of her cocky demeanor right now.

It was terribly hard to swallow that lump in her throat for some reason…

"…W-what… what about him?" she whispered quietly, voice seeming fearful, concerned, and a tad angry at the same time.

If Mephiles had done _anything _to him…

"Hmmm. Nothing."

"…!" Rouge let out an irritable growl at that. "Quit toying, demon-boy."

"Toying? Whatever do you mean?" Mephiles asked, feigning the most innocence in his tone of voice he could muster. "I've merely thought you would not be interested."

"Oh, _now _you assume that…" she muttered irritably.

The demon seemed proud of himself for a moment, before he paused. He would never reach the grand finale if he kept this up… if his timings were correct…

"…You are following the nuisance robot," he observed, causing Rouge to turn her head to him at the sudden remark.

Her features grew subtly annoyed. "…No, I'm _chatting it out with_ the nuisance _demi-God_."

"Nuisance?" The mentality of Solaris could only huff at that.

_You beings aggravate me more than you do others…_

"…In spite of that, batgirl… are you not wondering about him?" Mephile asked, trying to push aside the nuisance comment; the idea of it was blasphemous. His aim was to be fear-imposing… and she was certainly lying for that moment. He'd felt the fear earlier.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," she snapped, looking perplexed and angered both. She didn't have time for this…

"Oh, well, if you're not…" he dragged melodically.

Rouge stared at him with a confused expression.

"…You do recall my earlier… conversation with that piece of scrap metal… don't you?" he asked slowly, his eyes intent on hers. He wanted to see that flash of recognition, of dread, of betrayal in her eyes…

Rouge paused for thought, but then stopped in that too.

Was she actually taking **part **in this?

It bugged her how this was… this whole situation. She certainly wasn't happy with it. He was obviously out for reaction…

"Well?" he pressed persistently.

"…" The bat was silently, pondering in thought with a firm expression on her face.

And then, said face lit up considerably, but not in a good way.

_W-white fur…? Didn't S-Shadow…?_

Her face contorted into that of sheer horror, fear, and she swallowed once again, turning around briskly to the alleyways below her. Blue orbs wide, form of her very pupil shrinking, she looked on with alarm for another, disliking the thoughts that were rushing through her mind right now.

She couldn't push it aside. No, no… this… what Mephiles was proposing…

Her legs shook slightly beneath her, and she shook her head numerous times, thinking over and over again…

_N-no… no, no, no… no, no, no…_

The demi-God could not help but watch with glee at her reaction.

Ah, the memory was a wonderful thing… he'd learned a few things about that from Shadow himself.

"…Omega went that way, Rouge," Mephiles hummed with names, gesturing a hand towards one of the many rooftops before him.

"…?"

Rouge looked surprised at what he was currently telling her, but the voice inside told her he was only there to make the experience worse, as he usually did.

Silently, she wasted absolutely no time now, and took off yet again, albeit much quicker than before, Mephiles creasing a subtle, satisfied smirk behind her as he watched.

There was something beyond this.

But she had to get ahead of it.

First, however…

She had to survive it.

And Mephiles… doubted her doing just that.

**S~*~S**

**Errmmmaggerddd, I've taken so long with this! I'm so sorry. TOT**

**Roleplaying distracted me. For several months. Feel free to throw tomatoes at me. I know it's not a valid excuse, especially since it's on my to-do list…**

**But hey, I got the next chapter up!:D**

**I'd like to thank the reviewers of the first chapter, especially Gloomeh; I think that author motivated me the most, just asking about it, and I for one, feel it's a great honor to hear her reviews. ^^ Ahah.**

**And… to The Far Corners of the Mind: yes, I felt, too, last chapter lacked a little than my other works. I dunno what happened. :/ But hopefully, this is up to my usual standard! :D I thank you for the review too; I'm thankful for how detailed you go. Very much appreciated. :3 And maybe I'm back for a few other fanfictions too… **

**I'd like to thank 2400shadow too. Every review helps motivate me. :D**

**And, of course, all of my favouriters (spell check says that's not a word, but oh well! xD ) and followers.**

**Again, I am sorry for the lack of updates.**

**Either way, Writer's Block and my addiction to roleplaying got in the way. Apologies. XD **

**Stick around for chapter 3; it'll be dramatic… ;3**

**Goodbyeh, my awesome readers! (: 'Til next time!**

**-Toxic : )**


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